If you have attended a concert in Chicago, Bobby Talamine was probably there. Talamine has been photographing concerts for more than 40 years and will be releasing his first photography book, “Femmes at Full Volume,” in October 2026 with Offshoot, an imprint of Trellis Press. A limited number of prerelease copies will be sold at Printers Row Lit Fest in September 2026.
“Femmes at Full Volume” will feature artists, both women and female-presenting, who have shaped and/or are shaping the music landscape.
“I want everyone to see the raw energy of a live concert—the emotion of artists, the connection with the crowd, and the intense experiences that take place at a live show,” Talamine said.
“Femmes at Full Volume” captures moments in time such as Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance during the band’s first US tour in 1990, Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees at the first Lollapalooza in 1991, Lady Gaga during the development of The Monster Ball Tour in 2010, Kim Gordon at Pitchfork in 2021, and Amy Taylor of Amyl and the Sniffers at the Logan Square Auditorium in 2022.
The book will also feature icons such as Sade, Sinéad O’Connor, Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, Joan Jett, Björk, PJ Harvey, Erykah Badu, and Diamanda Galás, who wrote the foreword. Talamine is also including Chvrches, Lorde, and several artists closer to the underground, including Rita Lukea of Pixel Grip, Alli Logout of Special Interest, and Zola Jesus.
Talamine shot his first concert in 1977, as a teenager, when Led Zeppelin played the Chicago Stadium, and started photographing concerts professionally in 1982. Throughout the decades, Talamine has captured musicians at huge festivals, at small venues such as Bottom Lounge and Empty Bottle, and at everything in between—the Aragon Ballroom, Thalia Hall, Metro Chicago, Riviera Theatre, Salt Shed, and The Vic Theatre. You name it, and he has been there with his cameras.
“I will shoot 2,000 plus photos at every show, giving the same attention to a small band in a 400-capacity club as I do to a band selling out Soldier Field,” Talamine said.
He is the chief photographer for JBTV in Chicago, and his work has appeared in the Chicago Reader, national newspapers, Rolling Stone, B-Side Magazine, The Big Takeover, and Alternative Press Magazine as well as on major TV media outlets across the country and international music media outlets.
As for Talamine, retirement isn’t in the cards. He still shoots concerts several nights a week and plans to release more books of his concert photography through Offshoot, an imprint of Trellis Press.
For more information and a press kit for “Femmes at Full Volume,” visit trellispress.com/offshoot/femmes.
Trellis Press is an independent press that’s small on purpose, selective about what we publish, and deeply involved in making each book as strong and distinctive as possible.
To schedule an interview, contact Photographer Bobby Talamine (pronounced Tala-min) at bobbytalamine@yahoo.com. For review copies and media information, contact Alex Diaz at alex@trellispress.com.